Chapter 13

"Status report," Lien ordered as she entered the bridge the of her luxury yacht, Golden Lotus.

The Golden Lotus's Captain addressed her, "Ma'am, we are on course for Londinum and maintaining present distance from target Firefly. So long as they don't go to full burn, we should have no trouble staying far enough ahead of them."

"Good, have the ASREV's on standby just in case," Lien commanded. Lien was not expecting any trouble from the small Firefly, it was as good as hers whenever she wanted to take it. At present she was more concerned with defending her catch from any other hunters in the area.

"Ma'am, our scans from Persephone show the vessel to be unarmed. We capture them in deep space, minimalize casualties, and keep things quiet while you decide what to do with the captives," the Captain suggested.

"Patience Captain, we have all the time in the 'verse. We'll shadow them for now. If we are fortunate, they will reveal their plans without the need of an interrogation. Whatever they are up to, they cannot afford to draw attention to themselves. If we use this to our advantage, we may be able to take them on Londinum without firing a single shot."

"Of course ma'am, your strategy is sound. Still, those independents can be a squirrelly bunch. I can't help but feel every minute given to them is another thing that can go wrong for us, but that kind of thinking's just an old habit left over from the war. I will alert you if anything changes."

"Very well," Lien dismissed as she left the bridge and headed for her private quarters.

Lien Wu meant every word she said concerning her strategy for capturing the fugitives, but that did not mean she was without ulterior motives for attending the Ball. Though she knew it was illogical, she took the knowledge that Simon was attending the Sapphire Ball as a good omen as she remembered how dancing had brought them together in the past…

Lien was thrilled to discover she had the best dancer at the party on her arm. Lien had always been competitive, despite the lack of siblings, and found herself enjoying the jealousy of her peers almost as much as she enjoyed Simon's attention.

Unfortunately Simon was also the youngest and smallest boy in attendance. Some of the other jealous boys felt the need to draw attention to this fact in the rudest manner they could manage, because boys are stupid. To make matters worse, Simon would not even defend himself against their ridicule. That boy was just too proper for his own good!

Finally Lien lost patience and decided to rescue her date. She knew it was distastefully forward for a woman to ask a man, but Lien would not wait on Simon any longer. "Simon, you wanted to dance again didn't you?"

"Oh, uh, Lien, will you allow me the honor of this dance?" Simon stammered.

"Why, I'd be delighted!"

That dance turned out to be a turning point in the Tam and Wu families' relationship. Lien was convinced that it was her and Simon's time together, and not the fact the Simon's brat of a sister passed some assessment with flying colors, the convinced her father to visit the family more often. She did not understand what everyone else saw in the little girl and was more than a little irritated when her own father starting paying such close attention to the brat.

Over the years Lien had matured and learned to tolerate the little girl, quickly discovering that River was the quickest route to Simon's heart. Eventually, Simon started Med School and becoming a doctor became his new obsession.

Lien saw much less of Simon during those days, but so did everyone else. She would visit him as often as their college schedules would allow it and, although he had grown into a very handsome young man, Lien could clearly see he was still that shy little boy at heart. That shy little boy was as infuriating as he was adorable, but Lien had learned to be patient, at least with Simon. She knew River would be attending a special academy next year and, for the first time in fourteen years, Lien would have Simon all to herself again.

Zoe entered Serenity's bridge, hoping for be alone with her thoughts but finding River curled up in the copliot's chair instead. "You feeling okay sweetie?" Zoe asked as she stroked the troubled girl's hair.

"Not logical," River spoke distantly, "Specters of the past, visions of the future. They want to take us away."

"Don't worry dear, we ain't leavin' anyone behind," Zoe comforted, "That means one gets taken away."

"He's afraid of you."

"Who is?" Zoe asked, not sure why River's words bothered her so.

"Worried about Simon."

Guess I won't be getting' that answer, Zoe thought. With all that has transpired, Zoe doubted this would be one of her more coherent days. Still, Zoe thought it was probably best to keep the girl talking. She asked, "You went to see him? After we left?"

"Better now with Kaylee, but she can't fix everything."

"Oh, I doubt that little one," Zoe said with a smile, "just give her some time."

Kaylee was humming happily to herself on her way to see Simon. After seeing to Serenity, she used the blue prints from the data stick given to her earlier to construct several fascinating 'spy gadgets.' She even invented a few of her own. As she skipped into the infirmary, she concealed one of the devices she was particularly proud of behind her back as she greeted Simon with a smile and said, "Hey you."

"Kaylee," Simon greeted as he began to rise awkwardly from the infirmary bed where he had been resting, a task that would have been considerably easier without the sling of questionable benefit. Ironically, hundreds of years of medical practice had never gotten around to determining whether immobilization had any significant effect on recovery from a dislocated shoulder. In his current condition, Simon's injured limb retained nearly full strength and mobility, but he opted to keep his right arm in the sling on the off chance it accelerated his recovery.

"No, please, don't get up," Kaylee said. "I just came to check on ya and give you a surprise."

Simon smiled but stood up anyway. Kaylee had a way of lighting up a room that seemed to lighten his entire world. When she was near him, Simon felt like anything was possible. He kept his hand on the infirmary bed for good measure as he leaned forward to place a clumsy kiss on the tip of her nose and said, "I've got something for you too bao bei."

Kaylee giggled and exclaimed "Shiney!" and then narrowed her eyes as if to intimidate him and said, "but ya ain't off the hook. What's wrong with ya?"

Simon struggled to contain his laughter. When Kaylee leaned forward with her eyes narrowed and her hands behind her back, Simon thought she was about as intimidating as a teddy bear. "It's no big deal… well… except for the bruised femur."

"Oh," Kaylee said uncertainly, "um… Is that bad?"

"I still retain full use of my leg and estimate it's strength at about 80% normal for the time being," Simon assured her, "However, if I place too much weight on it for too long a duration, it begins to swell and throb quite painfully."

"Oh," Kaylee said, now comprehending, "Well, I noticed you was havin' a little trouble walkin' past few days, so I made you a present," Kaylee smiled and brought her hands in front of her to reveal a fancy looking gentleman's dress cane. Kaylee continued enthusiastically, "You can us it keep weight off your leg till it's done healing."

Simon winced self-consciously and then smiled at the bubbly mechanic. "Thank you, I appreciate it… I really do … I really hate feel like an invalid."

"You don't like it?" Kaylee asked with a wavering voice that made Simon's heart break. He knew he had to the say the right thing quickly but he couldn't figure out what that was.

"No. I-I…I mean yes! Yes! Kaylee I…" Simon took a breath and continued, "I meant no I don't not like it, but yes would have been a better answer." Simon released hold of the infirmary bed to squeeze her arm and promised her, "One day I will learn how to speak to you without upsetting you."

Kaylee giggled and playfully slapped him with her other hand. "Don't go makin' promises ya can't keep Dr. Tam," Kaylee said before looking at Simon with large eyes full of love and excitement and asking, "So what did ya get me?"

Simon gazed into big green her eyes, speechless and overjoyed. He felt his heart swell for her and, for the first time in as long as he could remember, Simon felt like he was truly loved and belonged somewhere. The feeling was exhilarating and terrifying. Simon shook his head as if to clear it, realizing Kaylee asked him a question some time ago. "I'm sorry," Simon apologized, "I…sometimes it's just hard to believe this is actually happening."

Kaylee did not appear to mind in the slightest. "Yeah," she said with a happy sigh, "isn't it wonderful?"

Simon broke eye contact and fumbled around in his pocket. Kaylee gasped and flattened her hands against her cheeks as she watched him pull out a ring. It was a simple ring of stainless steel and in the shape of a sunflower with an orange gemstone set in the center. Simon took another deep breath and said, "I wish I could afford… Kaylee you disserve-"

"It's beautiful!" Kaylee exclaimed, interrupting him with a joyful embrace and further silencing him with a passionate kiss. Simon closed his eyes and let the entire 'verse disappear. She opened her mouth, inviting him inside and deepening the kiss, and Simon met her passion with his own. For a blissful moment, Simon existed for the sole purpose of loving the beautiful woman in front of him.

When their lips parted, Simon's head was swimming and he realized with embarrassment that Kaylee was holding him upright again. Simon focused on supporting his own weight, curiously finding the task more difficult than he remembered. He muttered an apology that Kaylee either ignored or failed to notice and took a seat on the infirmary bed.

Kaylee placed the ring on her finger with a contented sigh and turned to face Simon. She placed a hand on each of his shoulders, gave them an affectionate squeeze and gazed eagerly into his eyes, exclaiming, "I can't wait till the day we become Dr. and Mrs. Frye!"

Simon's breath caught in his throat and he began choking.

"Oh honey, are you okay?" Kaylee asked, suddenly concerned. She gently beat Simon's back as he steadied his breathing.

Unable to find words, Simon nodded meekly in response.

"Oh! I almost forgot to show you what all your present does," Kaylee said as she picked up Simon's cane.

"The fact that it allows me to take weight off of my bruised femur makes me overjoyed."

"Well yeah, ya walk with it, but it also does this," Kaylee said as she held the cane sideways and pressed one of three cleverly disguised buttons, causing compressed air to shoot out bottom of the cane and inadvertently knock over a few medicine bottles five feet away.

"I see. So I can make it look like River or Jayne has been left unsupervised in my infirmary without leaving a fingerprint," Simon remarked sarcastically as he stood and walked over to clean up the mess.

Kaylee giggled sheepishly and continued speaking, "It also has a sword inside and it can launch a magnetic grappler-"

"I sword? Why would I-" Simon asked as he spun around and quickly silenced himself. He could see Kaylee's shoulders drooping with her spirits and he knew he had to make things better quickly. He hurried back to her side, wrapped his good arm around her, and gently kissed her forehead. "I love it and I love you," Simon assured her as he pulled her close rocked her gently back and forth in much the same manner as he had when comforting River in the past. He whispered into her ear, "I will find a way to use it and I will think of you every time I do."

Despite his best efforts, Kaylee seemed to be on the verge of tears. "Was just worried 'bout you is all," she said as she looked down, absently playing with her engagement ring, "Thought'cha could take it on yer dangerous mission. We got no way of knowin' what all you'll need and I thought…I thought if I can give ya enough tools, you'll make it safely back to me."

Simon did not know what to say, which was hardly surprising, so he squeezed her as tight as his one armed embrace could manage and pleaded, "Tell me what I can do, bao bei. I'll do anything."

"Just promise you'll come back to me."